Royal Government: Justiciars

Royal and noble life in the Middle Ages was hectic and on the move.  Kings and nobles were personally responsible for the government in their countries, principalities, duchies, counties and the like.  They needed to be everywhere at once.  Failing that, they needed competent royal officials who could see to it that justice was dispensed, taxes collected, levies raised, and life remained as routine as possible for the people under their rule.  To that end, Norman Kings such as Henry I, and the early Plantagenet Kings Henry II through Henry III appointed royal officials known as justiciars, to maintain royal authority when they were otherwise occupied or out of the kingdom altogether.

A justiciar was a prime minister, regent, chief justice and even military commander all rolled into one.  Originally, the term referred to anyone with the authority to hold a law court or to act as a judge.  Kings would appointed justiciars to act as judges and magistrates, freeing up sheriffs to track down criminals, maintain order in the shires and counties and perform other duties as needed.  Because both the Norman and Plantagenet kings had possessions on the Continent as well as the realm of England, they needed a trusty lieutenant to act with royal authority while they were absent.  Roger, Bishop of Salisbury was the first such official to actually hold the title of justiciar, though there had been earlier royal officials with similar power. 

From Salisbury's time on, the justiciar was often a ranking nobleman or churchman who could command the respect of his peers and colleagues in the king's name.  Some justiciars accumulated enough power to rival that of the king himself.  The last man to hold the position of justiciar was Hugh de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent.  It was Kent's power and authority that convinced Henry III and later Edward I that the powers of the justiciar needed to be spread around.  The Lord Chancellor absorbed much of the dignity and authority of the justiciar, while the judicial functions of the office were shared by the justices of King's Bench, Common Pleas and the Court of Exchequer, and other officials were responsible for military matters.